Mending Fences
by Mickey3
Summary: It was all Daniel could do to keep himself from running down the hall. He had to find Jack and apologize, and to explain himself. He had to make Jack understand. Sequel to "Breaking Fences". Minor Language.
1. Mending Fences

**Mending Fences  
By Mickey**

Status: Completed 7/15/2008

Sequel to: "Breaking Fences"

Season: 4

Spoilers: Scorched Earth, minor ones for Fire and Water, Cor-ai, Need, Demons, and The First Ones

Categories: Angst, Drama, Episode Tag

Archive Permission: Ask first. I'll probably say yes.

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for fun and I sure as hell didn't get paid for writin' it. No copyright infringement intended.

Word Count: 1969

Author's Notes: This picks up right where "Breaking Fences" left off. While it isn't absolutely necessary to read that one first, it might help you understand this one a little better. I really did mean to get this done and posted much sooner, but my muse had other ideas. It only took a year to get her to cooperate. Better late than never! Many thanks to my beta reader, Cyn.

* * *

It was all Daniel could do to keep himself from running down the hall. He had to find Jack and apologize, and to explain himself. He had to make Jack understand. Finally, he saw his friend moving swiftly down the corridor and turning a corner. Daniel followed and called out to him.

"Jack, wait up!" Jack gave no indication he heard Daniel, so he tried again. "Jack, we need to talk." Daniel called out as he tried to catch up with his long legged friend. "Damn it, Jack, slow _down_ . . . Please."

Daniel sighed in relief when Jack finally slowed his pace allowing Daniel to catch up to him. He put a hand on Jack's shoulder and flinched when his friend stopped, turned, and pinned him with a cold, hard glare.

"I have nothing to say to you, Daniel." That said, Jack turned and started to walk away again.

"Well, I have a few things to say to you," Daniel said, staying a step behind Jack. "Will you please stop and talk to me?" he pleaded.

Jack continued to walk, shoulders squared.

"Okay, how about I talk and you listen?" Daniel asked then sighed. Jack gave no indication he that he was paying any attention to his friend. God, he is so pissed at me right now. I really screwed up this time.

"Look, Jack, I didn't think . . . I wasn't trying to . . ." Daniel sputtered, his arms flailing as they always did when he was frustrated and trying to make a point. Which seemed to happen a lot when he was with Jack. He was about to continue when Jack suddenly stopped, causing him to stumble, and whirled around.

"Exactly! You DIDN'T," Jack's voice rose to a frightening level as he spoke.

Daniel flinched. He couldn't recall ever seeing Jack so angry. Not at him, anyway. An Airmen Daniel didn't recognize, who had been walking towards them, nearly jumped out of his skin. The young man promptly turned and walked back the way he'd came. It would have been comical if it weren't for the look on Jack's face.

"You're always acting _before_ you think and disobeying orders."

"No I don't . . ." Daniel started to protest.

Jack cut him off. "Don't even try to say you don't, Daniel." Jack held up his hand and started counting off on his fingers. "Let's start with you letting an alien fish man scramble your brains. Shortly after that was the Cor-ai thing on planet "Backwards Justice". There was that time on that mine planet when I specifically told you to stay still, but you just _had_ to go running after that girl. While she was whining and dining you, Sam, T, and I were slowly dying in that damn mine." A sharp glare cut off Daniel's protest before it could start. "You let her keep putting you into that damned sarcophagus. There was also the time you just _had_ to help that sick girl on planet "Stuck in Medieval Times" and Teal'c damn near died. There was also that Crystal Skull deal." Jack paused then added, "Oh, and let's not forget one of my personal favorites, that mess with the Unas. Do I really need to say more?"

Daniel didn't respond. He just stood staring and Jack in disbelief, mouth gaping.

Jack shook his head in frustration and anger then started walking down the hall again.

Daniel stood in shock as he watched Jack storm off. I am not like that! as he thought about what Jack had said, he realized his friend was right.

"Jack I didn't mean to . . ." Jeez, he didn't want to do this in the hallway. He _really_ didn't want to talk to Jack's retreating back.

After almost a minute with no response other than Jack picking up his pace, Daniel finally blurted out, "Damn it, Jack, I'm trying to say I'm sorry! Will you just stop for a minute and talk to me?"

Jack continued walking. After a few steps, he reached his destination and opened his office door.

When Jack entered and didn't immediately slam the door in his face, Daniel took that as an okay to follow Jack in. Other than that slight gesture, Jack made no attempt to acknowledge that Daniel was there. He simply sat at his desk and pulled open a drawer. Apparently not finding what he was looking for, Jack slammed the drawer shut so hard Daniel flinched; sure the wood may have actually splintered from the force.

"I have work to do, Daniel, so just spit it out and get the hell out of my office."

Daniel took a deep breath. None of the anger had left his friend's voice or expression. Jack was sitting at attention, his body stiff with barely controlled anger. It frightened and saddened Daniel to know it was directed at him. As often as he and Jack fought, he couldn't remember Jack ever being so angry with him. For a fleeting second in the briefing room, he'd been sure his friend was going to deck him. Now, it felt as if Jack's glare was boring straight through him. Deciding it would be best to just "spit it out" as Jack had put it, Daniel said, "I'm sorry, Jack."

Jack didn't reply immediately and Daniel knew his friend was waiting to see if he would elaborate further. Finally, Jack replied, "Sorry for what? Sorry for disobeying orders, again. Sorry for putting me and the rest of the team in a shitty position again? What, Daniel, what are you sorry about? Are you sorry that I damn near had to come back and tell the General that I ordered my second-in-command to blow up and alien space ship that not only contained the an entire race of beings and, oh, by the way, the brightest Archeologist and linguist we have as well as one of the best friend damn friends I've ever had was also on said ship?"

Daniel took a step back, surprised not only at the vehemence in his friend's voice, but also at what Jack had said about him. He opened his mouth to respond, closed it, considering what he'd say then answered, "Yes."

Jack opened his mouth then clamped it shut and sat back. Some of the anger and tension seemed to drain from him in that moment and his body relaxed a bit. After a few minutes, Jack leaned forward. "And that's supposed to make everything all better? You're always sorry after the fact, Daniel, and then you turn around and pull the same shit again and again." Jack put up a finger to silence Daniel. "I know why you felt you had to do what you did and I know, giving the chance to do it over, you'd pull the same fricking stunt again, I'm just asking you to think with your head a little more and your heart a little less in situations like this. You didn't just put me in a difficult position; you put Carter in one too. Do you think it, if things had been different and Carter's bomb had succeeded, that she would not blame herself at all? Shame on you if you do. I may have given the order and pushed the button, but she built the bomb."

Daniel stood in stunned silence. He hadn't thought of any of that. He'd been so focused on saving the Gadmeer that he hadn't considered anything else.

"Sure, everything worked out well in the end this time, but only because you damn well got lucky. You should have told me what you were planning."

Daniel sighed, "You would have said no."

Jack slammed his fist on his desk. "You don't know that, Daniel. You didn't even give me a chance!"

Daniel flinched, not because of the noise of Jack's fist hitting the desk, but from the tone of his friend's voice and the recrimination and hurt he heard in it and saw, briefly, on his face.

"But then you never do. You always assume that I will accept only a military approach to any situation. I am an Air Force officer, Daniel, but there's more to me than that."

Daniel was quiet as he processed what Jack was saying. He knew his friend had made some very good, valid points. He did tend to assume that Jack cared only for the military aspect of any mission. In his own defense, that was the appearance Jack usually presented. He'd known Jack for a long time now, though, he should have known better. Should have seen the anguish and uncertainty Jack obviously had about his decision.

"For someone so smart, you rarely ever really think these things through. You get so stuck on what you think is right and wrong, you don't even stop to consider any one else's thoughts or feelings on the issue. You criticized me for choosing one civilization over another, but you did the same thing. What if your ploy hadn't worked? You admitted that, when you told Lotan about the bomb and had him destroy it, you knew he had every intention on continuing with the terraforming. What if Lotan hadn't said anything else about the other planets? If you hadn't had that information available you wouldn't have figured out that one of them was the Enkarans home world." Jack didn't give Daniel a chance to interrupt. "Or what if you just never put two and two together? Sure, the Gadmeer would all be living their happy little lives soon, but the Enkarans would be dead. We made a promise, a commitment, to them. There was no way in hell I was going to let them be wiped out by a civilization that had died off a long time ago."

Daniel crossed his arms over his chest as he thought about everything Jack had said. While he wasn't sorry for what he'd done, or the outcome, he realized the way he'd gone about it was wrong. He'd put his own life in danger and, by doing so, had put two of his closest friends into a very difficult situation. He'd forced Jack to make a choice between saving his best friend, or trying to save the people he'd sworn to protect. It was a decision no one should ever have to make. "I'm sorry, Jack. I don't know what else to say. I can't just stop caring, stop trying to do what I think is right." This time he held up his hand to stall Jack's interruption. "But you're right, the way I went about it was wrong. I let my emotions override everything else and I put you and Sam into a horrible situation. I truly am sorry about that and I promise that I will try not to do it again."

Finally, all the anger and tension seemed to flow from Jack and he gave his friend a small smile. "That's all I'm asking. I don't want you to stop caring, Daniel, I don't want you to stop finding alternate ways of doing things in situations like this. I just want you to think _before_ you act."

Daniel returned Jack's smile. "I'll try." Angry as he had been at Sam in the briefing room at first, he was glad she had confronted him instead of simply walking out like Jack and Teal'c had. While the talk with Jack had been tense and uncomfortably, it was necessary and had forced him to confront some harsh truths about himself. Sam, Jack, and Teal'c were the best friends he'd ever had and he didn't want to ever put them in a situation like that again.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Jack suddenly said. "So . . . how about dinner at O'Malley's tonight? Your treat."

Daniel smiled widely. Typical Jack. "You bet. Let's go get Sam and Teal'c."

_THE END_


	2. Reconnecting

**Reconnecting  
By Mickey**

Status: Completed 1/31/2009

Series/Sequel Info: Companion piece to Mending Fences.

Season: 4

Spoilers: The First Ones and Crystal Skull, minor one for Scorched Earth

Content Warnings: Minor language

Word Count: 2,065

Author's Notes: This is told mostly from Jack's PoV, but in order to kinda join the two stories together, I felt it needed to start with Daniel's PoV. I blame this on Annie! Why, because of a conversation we had on a mailing list we both belong to. She brought up a very good point. Daniel would not have let what Jack said just slide. My response to her, Daniel was too shocked and surprised by Jack's outburst and what he'd said. He just wanted to make Jack see that he hadn't deliberately set out to disobey an order or put his friends in danger. This fic explores that issue and Jack's reasoning behind his remarks. Thanks to Annie for the beta and the title!

* * *

Daniel sighed in frustration. He flipped the page again, of the book he'd been reading and tried to concentrate. Several minutes later he was no further along. Giving up on the translation he'd been working on most of the day, he shut the book. Although it had been several days ago, more and more he found his thoughts drifting back to the conversation he'd had with Jack. While he was willing to concede Jack's points on most of the issues his friend had brought up, the more Daniel thought about it, there were two things Jack had mentioned that were really beginning to bug the hell out of him. He'd let them go at the time because he'd been too shocked and surprised by Jack's outburst and what he'd said. He just wanted to make his friend see that he hadn't deliberately set out to disobey an order or put his friends in danger. He was more concerned, at that time, with making Jack realize that than to question Jack's remarks about things that had happened in the past.

That was then, though. It was really bugging him now that he'd had time to dwell on them. He needed to talk to Jack about them.

Now.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Enter," Jack called out at the knock on his door.

"Hey, Daniel, what's up?" He glanced at his watch then back to the report he'd been writing. It wasn't quite lunchtime and he wondered what had brought Daniel out of his office early. Usually, Jack had to drag him out.

"We need to talk."

"We talk everyday. We're talking right now."

"Jaaack."

Jack finally looked up and would have laughed at the near whiney tone in his friend's voice if it weren't for the serious look on said friends face. Sighing heavily, he put down his pen and slid the report away from him. He had a sinking feeling he knew what Daniel wanted to talk about. "Daniel, we've already discussed this. Why do you want to bring it up again?"

"No, Jack, we discussed what happened with the Enkarans. I'm talking about the discussion itself. Specifically, two things you brought up during the conversation."

"What's there to talk about Daniel? Why do you always have to beat things to death?"

"I do not," Daniel replied indignantly.

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Too."

"Jack!"

Jack could hear the frustration in Daniel's voice as he conceded, "Okay, maybe I do, _sometimes_, but not this time and stop trying to change the subject."

Realizing that something he'd said had really upset his friend and figuring he owed it to the other man to at least listen to what was bothering him, Jack relented. "Okay, so talk."

"Well, you mentioned "that mess with the Unas". What, exactly, did you mean by that? It's not like I just went up to him as said, "Hey, Chaka, why don't you knock me out and drag me off, make my friends worry about me? Here's a good spot right here, go ahead and give it a whack!" I didn't _ask_ to be kidnapped, Jack."

Jack chuckled inwardly as Daniel pointed to his head as he spoke. "I realize that. I'm not talking about that. I was referring to your stepping in front of our guns and, once again, putting your self in harms way! That Unas kidnapped you, dragged you to that cave, and then offered you up as dinner and you just stood there. You didn't even try to get away even when you could."

"He wasn't going to hurt me."

"I could have shot you!"

"No, you couldn't have." Daniel replied as if that explained everything.

"How do you know that?"

"Because, I've seen you shoot. Your aim is too good, Jack, way to good. There's no way you would have ever even come close to hitting me.

"That doesn't make your not moving any less stupid!"

"Maybe, maybe not. Besides, I wasn't really in the line of fire."

Frustrated, Jack said, "Close enough. And what about him kidnapping you and dragging you to that cave to be dinner? Are you going to deny that too?"

"Yes, he did kidnap me and take me to the cave. We got to know each other, kinda, while he was taking me to the cave. We started to understand each other. He wasn't going to hurt me. I'm sure of . . ."

Interrupting, Jack said, "In your mission report, you even said yourself that you believed you'd been marked for death!"

Without missing a beat, Daniel continued, "When we got to the cave, I was supposed to be a sacrifice, but when the older Unas came for me, Chaka stood up for me, Jack. Besides, I seriously doubt he'd ever seen a human before that day. He didn't know what I was; just figured capturing me would make him a man, so to speak, to his people. It was a rite of passage."

"Yeah, well, hindsight is great, twenty/twenty and all that jazz, but you had no way to know that at that time. He could have just been saying that he wanted the first bite."

Recognizing the exasperated look on his friend's face, Jack sighed.

"I can't explain it," Daniel continued. "I just knew he was trying to help me, to tell the older one that I was a friend. I had to try to help him. Wouldn't you have done the same if our roles were reversed?"

Relenting, Jack said, "Yeah, maybe. I don't know. The fact is, Daniel, that instead of at least trying to control the situation when you had the chance, you let it, and your emotions, control you. Just like always." Jack rubbed his hands over his eyes a few times then ran them through his hair. Why couldn't Daniel see the danger he was constantly putting himself in?

"Jack, it wasn't like that! Not this time."

"Wasn't it, Daniel? Okay, maybe it isn't always, but wasn't it this time?" Deciding he really didn't want to discuss that issue anymore, Jack moved the conversation along. "Since you mentioned two points that you had an issue with from our last conversation, I'm assuming the other was the crystal deal. What about that? You did the same thing, let your emotions override your better judgment."

"That's something entirely different."

"It's the same damn thing, Daniel!" Jack slammed his fist on the table causing Daniel to grimace and take a step back. Rubbing his hand, he forced himself to relax, getting angry with his friend now wouldn't do either of them any good, nor would it resolve the issues between them. He really wanted to work this all out, to go back to that easy camaraderie they'd had before that mess with the Enkarans and the Gadmeer.

"You ignored me when that energy field started to envelop you and the radiation started to rise, I called your name."

"Uhhh, see, that's the thing Jack. I didn't hear you." At Jack's skeptical look, Daniel added, "Honest! I must have already started to phase by that time."

"See! That's what I'm talking about." Daniel looked at him in confusion and Jack clarified, "You never think before you act. What in the world would possess you to stare into that thing's eyes like that in the first place? Especially since you had the benefit of knowing what your grandfather said happened when he did it."

"I thought it was irrelevant at the time. I didn't believe him."

Frustrated, Jack sighed heavily. "That was for me to decide, not you. Whether you believed him or not was irrelevant. You had information you didn't share with me. I'm the team leader, Daniel. _I_ decide what information is important on missions."

"It was just a skull, Jack! I didn't think anything would happen. Certainly not that I'd be shifted into another phase!"

Jack looked at his friend then softly asked, "Even knowing what your grandfather said happened when he did the same thing?"

"That's different!" Daniel protested.

Jack snorted, "How, Daniel? How is it any different? You should have given him more credit. Think about it and tell me if you _really_ think his theory was any crazier than yours."

Daniel crossed his arms and lowered his head, his posture what Jack had come to think of as "unsure Daniel". It was how he stood when he was doubting himself, was confused or was simply contemplating a serious or difficult issue.

"Besides, like I said, you had an obligation to tell me _everything_ you knew about that skull. No matter how crazy it sounded. This is just another example of you undermining my authority. You keep telling me you trust me and my command decisions, but yet you pull crap like this."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Jack, but all I can do is reiterate that I _do_ trust you."

"Teal'c saw the energy field that formed around you, you mean to tell me that you didn't?"

Seeming to suddenly find something fascinating about his sneakers, Daniel looked down at his feet, "Uhhh, kinda, I guess. I didn't really think much of it."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about," Jack exclaimed. "You rarely ever do. In this case especially, you should have. Regardless of how you felt about your grandfather at the time, the fact that the cavern was everything he described it to be should have been enough to send off some pretty damn loud warning bells in your head. The energy field enveloping you should have been enough to make you back off real quick."

Daniel seemed to consider that then said, "Yeah, I guess you're right. It all happened pretty fast though once I did look into the skulls eyes. One minute I'm looking at the skull, the next I was laying on the ground. Or that's how it seemed to me, anyway."

Daniel conceding his point relaxed Jack a little. "You called me an ass," he remarked, trying not to smile.

Daniel opened his mouth to deny it, apparently feeling Jack was angry about that as well then noticed the smile Jack couldn't quite hide. Grinning, Daniel said, "Actually, Jack, _Nick_ called you an ass."

"Because you told him to!"

"No, I didn't. I said, "Don't be an ass", and he repeated it. Yes, I told him to repeat what I was saying, but I didn't mean for him to repeat that! Anyway, technically neither Nick nor I were calling you an ass, just telling you not to _act_ like one."

Jack grinned broadly at that. It was a very Daniel thing to say. "You're splitting hairs." The grin vanished as Jack got serious, "Look, Daniel, I was upset and yes, a little angry, because of the reasons we just discussed, but I guess I was just as angry with Rothman. You just caught the brunt of it because I can't say anything to him and for that, I'm sorry."

Daniel looked at Jack in surprise, "Really? Why?"

"Because he is," pausing as he remembered what happened to Rothman, Jack amended, "was a pompous ass. He completely disregarded everything we told him _and_ pretty much called Carter and Teal'c a liar to their faces!"

Daniel went reflective again and Jack was sure he knew what his friend was thinking about.

After a few minutes, Jack broke the silence. "Like I said before, I'm not asking you to stop caring, or even to care less, just be more careful. I don't want you to stop asking questions, just learn when and where is the time and the place and talk to me _first_. Start thinking with your head as much as you do with your heart." Almost as an after-thought, added, "Although it would make my job a lot simpler." Then he muttered, "And my life."

"What was that last part, Jack?" Daniel asked him with a smile although it was clear he'd heard it.

Recovering quickly, Jack returned his friend's smile and said, "What?"

Grinning broadly, Jack said, "How about I buy you lunch?"

"O'Malley's?" Daniel asked hopefully.

"Mess hall," Jack said, putting his hand over Daniel's shoulder and leading him out of his office. "I hear they're serving chocolate cake today!"

Daniel walked with Jack a few steps then, "Hey," he objected as he came to an abrupt halt. "The mess is free!"

Laughing as he nudged his friend along, Jack replied, "I know."

_THE END_


End file.
